Wedgewood Pharmacy Welcomes U.S. Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-Georgia)

SWEDESBORO, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wedgewood Pharmacy, the largest veterinary compounding pharmacy in the U.S., welcomed U.S. Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA) to its pharmacy in Swedesboro yesterday. Carter toured the state-of-the art facilities and met with company executives to discuss the unique and critical role compounding plays in veterinary medicine, and the Congressional intent that it remain a state-licensed practice.

Carter is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He leads a bipartisan effort in Congress urging the FDA to conform to the statutory authority it was granted by Congress, and to leave the regulation of traditional pharmacies to the states, which have had authority over them for many years. Carter said, “The FDA’s misinterpretation of certain provisions of the law and related enforcement actions against pharmacies are jeopardizing patients’ access to critical compounded medications. While I’ve been working primarily for patients who are people, I recognize how important pets are in our lives. This meeting provided insight into animal health care markets and threats to patient access there.”

Wedgewood Pharmacy makes customized medications for people and their pets when FDA–manufactured drugs cannot meet their needs. Compounded medications are prescriptions and medication orders that are written by physicians, veterinarians, and other legally authorized prescribers, and prepared by specially trained pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

Marcy A. Bliss, president and CEO, added, “Buddy Carter has been an essential advocate for the rights of physicians and veterinarians to make medical decisions for people and their pets. We are very grateful for his backing in Congress. He clearly understands that veterinary medicine and human medicine are entirely different professions, with very different requirements for compounded medications and regulation.”

About Wedgewood Pharmacy

Wedgewood Pharmacy employs 360 people and is headquartered in Swedesboro, Gloucester County, N.J., where it maintains a 54,000-square-foot facility.

George (late) and Lucy Malmberg, both pharmacists, purchased Wedgewood Pharmacy in 1981; the pharmacy was founded in 1980. In its 35-year history, the company has grown from a local community pharmacy to become one of the largest compounding pharmacies in the United States, serving tens of thousands of prescribers throughout the U.S. with customized animal-health and human-health prescriptions every year.

Wedgewood Pharmacy is accredited by the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board (PCAB®) for compliance with PCAB pharmacy compounding accreditation standards. PCAB is a service of the Accreditation Commission for Health Care and is a third-party accreditation organization that has developed the highest national standards that providers are measured against to illustrate their ability to effectively and efficiently deliver quality compounded medications to consumers.

PCAB was established in 2007 by eight of the nation’s leading pharmacy organizations to create a voluntary quality-accreditation designation for the compounding industry. Wedgewood Pharmacy was the first pharmacy in the Philadelphia area to earn this accreditation and was re-accredited in January 2015.

In June 2016, Chicago-based New Harbor Capital became the majority owner of the company.